World Media Group imagines a world without trusted media in video campaign

World Media Group (WMG), the alliance of international media organisations, has launched a video campaign today to stress the importance of objective trusted media in the face of spreading misinformation.

The three-minute video imagines a world without trusted media, with unfiltered propaganda and misinformation taking over.

The importance of press freedom and accurate journalism came into the spotlight during the pandemic, the campaign highlights, as well as the impact of bad actors stoking subjective and untrue stories on social media and other platforms.

It shows the importance of the journalism of its members in response to this by featuring headlines on topics from the US Capitol Riots to climate change and data privacy.

Belinda Barker, chief executive of WMG, said: “When the world turned upside-down, and it became a matter of life and death, people turned to World Media Group brands for essential information”

“This was reflected in rocketing readers, users and viewers among our membership – including a 50 percent increase in unique monthly users across our quality news sites, to surpass a staggering 1.5 billion users at the height of the pandemic.

“In an age when Reporters Without Borders continues to track declines in press freedom around the world, support for the values of impartial, trusted world media brands with offices of trained journalists around the world has never been more important.”

WMG members include Bloomberg, The Atlantic, Fortune, Financial Times, The Washington Post, The New York Times, National Geographic, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, TIME magazine, The Economist, Reuters, Politico, Insider and BBC Global News.

Imagine a World Without Trusted Media was written by Arif Durrani, executive editor at Bloomberg Media Studios, and produced by Danny Edwards at Foxred Video.